Image detecting module

ABSTRACT

An image detecting module. The image detecting module comprises a base, a seat movably disposed on the base, an image detecting unit disposed on the seat, a first guide member by which the seat is joined to the base, moving relative to the base in a first direction, a first coil disposed on either the base or the seat, a first magnet disposed on either the base or the seat and opposite to the first coil, and a first Hall element disposed on either the base or the seat and adjacent to the first coil. A magnetic force is generated between the first coil and the first magnet by providing a voltage to the first coil, thereby moving the seat in the first direction along the first guide element.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/393,116, filed on Mar. 30, 2006, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to an image detecting module, and in particular toan image detecting module having an image detecting unit with2-dimensional motion.

Referring to FIG. 1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,988 discloses an image shakesuppressing device for a camera. The image shake suppressing device ismounted in a lens. When the camera is used, an angular velocity metermeasures the angular velocity of the moving camera and provides themeasured data to a circuit to drive a driving part moving the lens in adirection of a vertical optical axis, thereby compensating orsuppressing blurring due to vibration of the camera.

Because the lens, however, is moved in a vertical optical axis, the MTFvalue thereof is reduced. This compensation method has limitedcompensation effect and may reduce image quality.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, Japan patent No. 3551174 discloses amoving mechanism. The moving mechanism employs piezoelectric elements todrive an image detecting unit, such as CCD, in a vertical direction,such that blur can be compensated or suppressed, and it is applicable toany lens.

The piezoelectric elements must be driven by voltage to move the CCD. Asthe CCD, however, is heavier than a single lens, a large piezoelectricelement is needed, increasing the volume of the camera.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of an image detecting module of the invention comprises abase, a seat movably disposed on the base, a image detecting unitdisposed on the seat, a first guide member by which the seat is joinedto the base and moves relative to the base in a first direction, a firstcoil disposed on either the base or the seat, a first magnet disposed oneither the base or the seat and opposite the first coil, and a firstHall element disposed on either the base or the seat and adjacent to thefirst coil. A magnetic force is generated between the first coil and thefirst magnet by providing a voltage to the first coil, thereby movingthe seat in the first direction along the first guide element.

The first guide element comprises a plurality of first holding portionsdisposed on the base and the seat respectively, and a pair of firstshafts held parallel by the first holding portions, whereby the seat isjoined to the base, and the seat moves along the axis of the firstshaft.

The seat further comprises a movable plate movably disposed on the seat,and a circuit board joined to the movable plate, whereby the imagedetecting unit is electrically connected to the circuit board and fixedon the base.

The image detecting module further comprises a second guide element bywhich the movable plate is joined to the seat and moves relative to theseat in a second direction, a second coil disposed on either the base orthe movable plate, a second magnet disposed on either the base or themovable plate and opposite the second coil, and a second Hall elementdisposed on either the base or the movable plate and adjacent to thesecond coil. A magnetic force is generated between the second coil andthe second magnet by providing a voltage to the second coil, therebymoving the seat along the second guide element in the second direction.

The second guide element comprises a plurality of second holdingportions disposed on the seat and the movable plate respectively, and apair of second shafts held parallel by the second holding portions,whereby the movable plate is joined to the seat and moves along the axisof the second shaft.

The axis of the second shaft is perpendicular to the axis of the firstshaft.

The first magnet comprises an N pole and an S pole disposed along theaxis of the first shaft. The second magnet comprises an N pole and an Spole disposed along the axis of the second shaft.

When the image detecting module is idle, two halves of the first Hallelement are located on the N pole and the S pole of the first magnetrespectively.

When the image detecting module is idle, two halves of the second Hallelement are located on the N pole and the S pole of the second magnetrespectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequentdetailed description and examples with references made to theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an image shake suppressing device disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 5,266,988;

FIGS. 2A and 2B depict a moving mechanism disclosed in Japan Patent No.3551174;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an image detectingmodule of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a rear view of a base of the image detecting module;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a seat with a movable plate of theembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a rear view of a seat with a movable plate of the embodimentof the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a camera having the image detecting moduleof the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the description, it is noted that location language, such asfirst direction X, second direction Y, or third direction Z, is based onthe coordinate of each individual figure, and the first direction X,second direction Y, and the third direction Z are orthogonal.

Referring to FIG. 3, an embodiment of an image detecting module of theinvention comprises a base 20 with a hollow portion 29, a seat 30disposed in the hollow portion 29, a movable plate 40 disposed in theseat 30, and an image detecting unit 50 (such as a CCD) disposed on themovable plate 40. The sensing surface of the image detecting unit 50faces opposite the third direction Z.

Referring to FIG. 4, the base 20 comprises a pair of first magnets 21and 22, a pair of second magnets 23 and 24 and a pair of parallel firstshafts 25 and 26. The first magnet 21 and 22 are disposed parallel ontwo sides of the hollow portion 29. The N pole and S pole of the firstmagnet 21 are disposed along the first direction X, and the N pole and Spole of the first magnet 22 are also disposed along the first directionX. The second magnets 23 and 24 are disposed parallel on two sides ofthe hollow portions 29. The N pole and the S pole of the second magnet23 are disposed along the second direction Y, and the N pole and the Spole of the other second magnet 24 are also disposed along the seconddirection Y. In addition, N poles of the first magnet 21 and 22 face thehollow portion 29, and the S poles of the second magnet 23 and 24 facethe hollow portion 29.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the seat 30 has two wing portions 31 a and31 b. A pair of first coils 32 a and 32 b and a first Hall element 44 aare disposed on the wing portions 31 a and 31 b respectively. The firstcoil 32 a is disposed on the wing portion 31 a; the first Hall element44 a is also disposed on the wing portion 31 a and adjacent to the firstcoil 32 a; the other first coil 32 b is disposed on the wing portion 31b. The first coils 32 a and 32 b are substantially rectangular and theirlongitudinal sides are parallel. The movable plate 40 also has two wingportions 41 a and 41 b. A pair of second coils 42 a and 42 b and asecond Hall element 44 b are disposed on the wing portions 41 a and 41b. The second coil 42 a is disposed on the wing portion 41 a; the secondHall element 44 b is disposed on the wing portion 41 a and adjacent tothe second coil 42 a; the other second coil 42 b is also disposed on thewing portion 41 b. The second coils 42 a and 42 b are also substantiallyrectangular, and their longitudinal sides are parallel. Two firstholding portions 35 a and 35 b are disposed on the seat 30 adjacent tothe wing portion 41 a. The first holding portions 35 a and 35 b haveholes 351 a and 351 b respectively; two first holding portions 35 c and35 d are disposed on the seat 30 adjacent to another wing portion 41 b.The first holding portion 35 c and 35 d has holes 351 c and 351 d.

A pair of first shafts 25 and 26 are parallel. The shorter first shaft25 is disposed on the side of the magnets 21 and 24, the longer firstshaft 26 is disposed on the side of the magnet 23 away from the hollowportion 29. The longer first shaft 26 extends through the holes 351 cand 351 d and is held by the first holding portions 35 c and 35 d andfixed to the holding portions 25 b and 25 c. The shorter first shaft 25extends through holes 351 a and 351 b and is fixed by the holdingportion 25 a. The first shafts 25, 26 and the holding portions 25 a, 25b, 25 c, 35 a, 35 b, 35 c, 35 d constitute a first guide element 60. Theseat 30 moves in the first direction X via the first guide element 60.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the seat 30 has a through hole 39. The imagedetecting unit 50 is disposed in the through hole 39 on the movableplate 40. The movable plate 40 has a circuit board 45 to which the imagedetecting unit 50 is electrically connected. A rectangular frame 46 isfixed to the circuit board 45 and surrounds the image detecting unit 50.A pair of parallel frame walls 461 and 462 of the rectangular frame 46have second holding portions 463 a, 463 b, 463 c and 463 d respectively.The second holding portions 463 a, 463 b, 463 c and 463 d have holes4631 a, 4631 b, 4631 c and 4631 d respectively. A pair of second shafts47 and 48 are parallel to the second direction Y. The second shaft 47extends through the holding portion 36 a and 36 b on the seat 30 and isinserted into holes 4631 a and 4631 b and fixed to the seat 30. Theother second shaft 48 extends through the holding portions 36 c and 36 dand holes 4631 c and 4631 d, whereby the movable plate 40 is joined tothe seat 30. The second shafts 47, 48 and the holding portions 36 a, 36b, 36 c, 36 d, 463 a, 463 b, 463 c, and 463 d constitute a second guideelement 70. The movable plate 40 moves in the second direction Y via thesecond guide element 70.

FIG. 7 depicts a camera employing the image detecting unit of theinvention. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 7, a camera 100 comprises a motionsensor 110, such as an angular acceleration element or linearacceleration element. When the motion sensor 110 detects motion of thecamera 100, a PWM circuit 120 or a digital circuit provides a voltagesignal to the first coils 32 a, 32 b and the second coils 42 a and 42 b.The first coils 32 a, 32 b and the second coils 42 a, 42 b generatevariable magnetic field interacting with the first magnet 21, 22 and thesecond magnet 23, 24, whereby the seat 30 moves in the first directionX, the movable plate 40 moves in the second direction Y, and the imagedetecting unit 50 moves in the first direction X and the seconddirection Y correspondingly. Blurring is thereby modified or prevented.

When the camera 100 is still, the image detecting module is also still.At this time, two halves of the first Hall element 44 a are located onthe N pole and the S pole of the first magnet 21, and two halves of thesecond Hall element 44 b are located on the N pole and the s pole of thesecond magnet 23. The first and second Hall element 44 a and 44 b detectno magnetic field variation. When the camera 100 is moved, the first andsecond coils 42 a, 42 b, 43 a, 43 b interact with the first and secondmagnets 21, 22, 23 and 24 to move the seat 30 in the first direction Xand the second direction Y. The Hall element 44 a and 44 b detectsvariation of the magnetic field to calculate the displacement and movingfrequency of the seat 30, whereby the voltage signal from the PWMcircuit and the digital circuit is modified.

Because the invention changes the position of the image detecting unitwith respect to the optical axis rather than adjusting the lensposition, image quality is affected. Further the pair of coils and apair of magnets moving the image detecting unit resulting in the elementhaving small volume, allowing reduced camera size.

While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms ofpreferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover variousmodifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to thoseskilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims shouldbe accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all suchmodifications and similar arrangements.

1. An image detecting module, comprising: a base; a seat movablydisposed on the base; a image detecting unit disposed on the seat; afirst guide member by which the seat is joined to the base, movingrelative to the base in a first direction; a first coil disposed oneither the base or the seat; a first magnet disposed on either the baseor the seat and opposite to the first coil; and a first Hall elementdisposed on either the base or the seat and adjacent to the first coil,wherein when a magnetic force is generated between the first coil andthe first magnet by providing a voltage to the first coil, the seat ismoved in the first direction along the first guide element withoutdeformation.
 2. The image detecting module as claimed in claim 1,wherein the first guide element comprises: a plurality of first holdingportions disposed on the base and the seat respectively; a pair of firstshafts held parallel by the first holding portions, whereby the seat isjoined to the base, and the seat moves in the axis of the first shaft.3. The image detecting module as claimed in claim 1, wherein the seatfurther comprises: a movable plate movably disposed on the seat; acircuit board joined to the movable plate, whereby the image detectingunit is electrically connected to the circuit board and fixed on themovable plate.
 4. The image detecting module as claimed in claim 3,further comprising: a second guide element by which the movable plate isjoined to the seat and moves relative to the seat in a second direction;a second coil disposed on either the base or the movable plate; a secondmagnet disposed on either the base or the movable plate and opposite tothe second coil; and a second Hall element disposed on either the baseor the movable plate and adjacent to the second coil, wherein a magneticforce is generated between the second coil and the second magnet byproviding a voltage to the second coil, thereby moving the seat alongthe second guide element in the second direction.
 5. The image detectingmodule as claimed in claim 4, wherein the second guide elementcomprises: a plurality of second holding portions disposed on the seatand the movable plate respectively; and a pair of second shaft heldparallel by the second holding portions, whereby the movable plate isjoined to the seat and moves along the axis of the second shaft.
 6. Theimage detecting module as claimed in claim 5, wherein the axis of thesecond shaft is perpendicular to the axis of the first shaft.
 7. Theimage detecting module as claimed in claim 5, wherein the second magnetcomprises an N pole and an S pole disposed along the axis of the secondshaft.
 8. The image detecting module as claimed in claim 7, wherein whenthe image detecting module is still, two halves of the second Hallelement are located on the N pole and the S pole of the second magnetrespectively.
 9. The image detecting module as claimed in claim 2,wherein the first magnet comprises an N pole and an S pole disposedalong the axis of the first shaft.
 10. The image detecting module asclaimed in claim 9, wherein when the image detecting module is still,two halves of the first Hall element are located on the N pole and the Spole of the first magnet respectively.